Not really a new me.....more like a renewed me...

New year!! New me!!!

Isn't that the most common phrase we hear and see all around us as usher out the old and enter into the new?

Or maybe it's...

Out with the old and in with the new!!!
This is going to be my year!!!

Believe me I'm not knocking these sentiments. I've said them. And meant them. But what I see happen all too often....or maybe it's just me....is that life sucks the fervor and passion right out of them.

And suddenly 2017 is full of the same crap, pain and issues as 2016 was. And before you know it....it's December 31st and we're just praying for the ability to put the year behind us and begin the new year with hope and optimism.

What if....

What if it doesn't matter what year it is.  It doesn't matter if we're still dealing with old as we enter new.  What if this year isn't our year either?

Man. That's depressing.

Or is it???
Why do we wait for something 'special' or 'magical' to happen before we 'get right'??
Why do we think that there needs to be some monumental thing (like the clock striking midnight) for new to begin?
Why do we believe that there needs to be grandiose plans and ideas for change to occur?

I can't speak for everyone.  But I can speak for myself.

There's this idea that in our deepest darkest hour we are closest to Christ. That we often forget about him when things are going well and we learn to lean fully on Him as we face storms.

That was true for me for a long time.

But I've discovered a new phenomenon for myself. And it took me pretty much all of 2016 to realize. At some point...this switched for me. And as I've stood in the storms of 2016...I've relied much too heavily on myself.  

Don't get me wrong. I've prayed. I've called upon friends to pray.
And I definitely still believe that God is real and there and present...

But I've allowed my intelligence, my strength, my wit, my insight, my whatever....to supercede my full reliance on Him. I've found myself 'orchestrating' and it's something I've never really done. And it has me feeling blechy.  What happened to that full reliance?  That openness that I do NOT have the answers...

Full reliance.

That He is more than enough.
And regardless of what happens.....who is president....what laws change...what I lose...who hurts me....who lies to me....who discards me....how I stumble....how I'm wronged...how I fail...regardless of all of that....

He makes beautiful things out of dust.

And His beauty isn't man's beauty. It's not a fixed brain or mended marriage...it's not world peace or restoration of justice....it's not pretty endings and plastic dreams...it's not sweet little Christianity...

What if it's people....
open and honest
broken and torn
full of hope in the midst of hopelessness
full of intregrity in the midst of lies
full of love in the midst of hate...
Getting up everyday and making their very best effort....
to live with integrity
to give with no motive
to do without expectation
to hope when it's hopeless
to love with no agenda



So I have no resolutions.
I am not able to resolve much these days.

I can only rediscover my full reliance on a God who loves us. Who is bigger and wider than the box we put Him in. Who is capable of more than we can see and desires us to allow Him full reign.

I'm not one who tosses out scripture like free tshirts at a concert....but there are a few truths that I'm clinging to and challenging myself with for 2017....

He has given me dominion and authority.
No weapon formed against me shall prosper.
He is for  me.


But am I living under His dominion and authority?
But am I under the protection of the shield?
But am I for Him?

I am coming for 2017.  But I am not alone.

I'm coming equipped with the Lion of Judah.

So you might want to move around.


That's what I got today.